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RxBar co-founder Peter Rahal on life after becoming a millionaire

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Re: RxBar co-founder Peter Rahal on life after becoming a millionaire

#101

Post by pbhjpbhj »

Invictus0 wrote: post #69
sharadov wrote: post #62

A poor little rich boy is all I can say! If he is feeling so unchallenged and wants "skin in the game" then give away all your money and start again. But he won't, no one can, once you've got a taste for the good life.. Btw, the RX bar tastes awful.

My theory is that the people buying the energy bars prefer that they taste like shit to make themselves feel more hardcore about whatever dieting philosophy du jour they abide by.

I can believe that, IIRC research shows that placebos work better if they taste bad (also if they're red?).

Re: RxBar co-founder Peter Rahal on life after becoming a millionaire

#102

Post by dvt »

tempsy wrote: post #68
dvt wrote: post #51

I don't like articles like this for two reasons: (1) they trivialize actually building a company, growing it, and selling it, and (2), they provide comfort for those that don't have the drive/luck/privilege of getting there by arguing that "hey, money doesn't make you happy!" First of all, as others mention in the thread, this is hardly an example of an "overnight success" -- there are no such examples, barring a few…

I don't really get your point. First of all, this isn't an "article." It's a story about one founder and one company. It's not supposed to be a middle-of-the-road case study on building startups. Nowhere in the story does he suggest that being poor would be better than being rich or that having financial security isn't objectively better than the opposite. He's basically saying that the downside of his wealth is livi…

> First of all, this isn't an "article." It's a story about...

I hate to be pedantic, but "article" and "story" are synonyms.

> The reason why the story resonates is because it's a reminder that money does not buy purpose more than anything else.

I think it resonates purely because it's a "human" story but, again, I really don't think anyone seriously thinks money brings happiness or purpose. Essentially, the story argues against a manufactured strawman. What the story does, imo, is minimize the hard work that went into his million-dollar venture while at the same time hinting that his small fortune might actually be a detriment, not a boon.

Re: RxBar co-founder Peter Rahal on life after becoming a millionaire

#103

Post by sharadov »

Invictus0 wrote: post #69
sharadov wrote: post #62

A poor little rich boy is all I can say! If he is feeling so unchallenged and wants "skin in the game" then give away all your money and start again. But he won't, no one can, once you've got a taste for the good life.. Btw, the RX bar tastes awful.

My theory is that the people buying the energy bars prefer that they taste like shit to make themselves feel more hardcore about whatever dieting philosophy du jour they abide by.

I've not come across a single protein bar that tastes good - I'd rather make a smoothie ( not convenient I know!), or why not just eat jerky ( not vegan/vegetarian-friendly, but for the meat-eaters there are some awesome flavors out there!).

Re: RxBar co-founder Peter Rahal on life after becoming a millionaire

#104

Post by mfoy_ »

mfoy_ wrote: post #18
compiler-guy wrote: post #4

Actually getting the money itself in reality did happen overnight, but the setup took him years and thousands of hours of work and much blood sweat and tears. This isn't so much about what happens when you become rich quickly, as "What happens when you achieve your goal?"

Well, yes and no, the article does grapple with the issues of becoming rich. So... both things can be true.

For whoever down-voted this: Finding a spouse is not specifically challenging due to having achieved your goals... it is, however, coloured by money. "Is she only dating me for my wealth?" is not something that occurs to someone who does not have wealth but has achieved their goals.

Re: RxBar co-founder Peter Rahal on life after becoming a millionaire

#105

Post by pbhjpbhj »

programbreeding wrote: post #24
bryanmgreen wrote: post #13

Seems like this individual is in need of a re-branding as much as the re-branding that turned RX Bar from a soulless company into a raging success. (Shoutout to The McQuades and Scott & Victor for their incredible brand and package design work. http://www.themcquades.com/rx-bar )

I was looking at that packaging last week at the store and was impressed by it. Although I became fixated on them putting "No B.S." rather than "0 B.S." It seemed more natural to me to say 0 considering the rest of the design. It made me wonder if that's something that they tested and there's a consumer-related reason they went with "No," or if there was a product-labeling regulation that prevented it. And then I rea…

"what's OBS?" {moves gaze to next product}

Re: RxBar co-founder Peter Rahal on life after becoming a millionaire

#106

Post by sharadov »

misiti3780 wrote: post #74
Invictus0 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My theory is that the people buying the energy bars prefer that they taste like shit to make themselves feel more hardcore about whatever dieting philosophy du jour they abide by.

they are a good snack right before you lift weights ... they do taste like shit but who cares

Why not just drink a protein shake straight up mixed with water then? More protein for a lesser amount of carbs.

Re: RxBar co-founder Peter Rahal on life after becoming a millionaire

#107

Post by TrackerFF »

dvt wrote: post #51

I don't like articles like this for two reasons: (1) they trivialize actually building a company, growing it, and selling it, and (2), they provide comfort for those that don't have the drive/luck/privilege of getting there by arguing that "hey, money doesn't make you happy!" First of all, as others mention in the thread, this is hardly an example of an "overnight success" -- there are no such examples, barring a few…

I think if happiness was a function of money, then it would very much look like the sigmoid / logistic function. You have a linear region where there's a very dramatic relationship between money and happiness (a $100k salary makes life so much easier than a $30k salary), but there's very small difference at the different ends...a $5k salary will not improve your life much over a $500 salary, even though there's an order of a magnitude in difference - just in the same way that $50MM won't make you much happier than $500MM.

And this is something I feel is important, because people tend to compare extremes. It's always poor vs rich

Re: RxBar co-founder Peter Rahal on life after becoming a millionaire

#108

Post by tempsy »

dvt wrote: post #102
tempsy wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really get your point. First of all, this isn't an "article." It's a story about one founder and one company. It's not supposed to be a middle-of-the-road case study on building startups. Nowhere in the story does he suggest that being poor would be better than being rich or that having financial security isn't objectively better than the opposite. He's basically saying that the downside of his wealth is livi…

> First of all, this isn't an "article." It's a story about... I hate to be pedantic, but "article" and "story" are synonyms. > The reason why the story resonates is because it's a reminder that money does not buy purpose more than anything else. I think it resonates purely because it's a "human" story but, again, I really don't think anyone seriously thinks money brings happiness or purpose. Essentially, the story a…

I mean, you criticized a human interest story for not being something like a business school case study for how to build startups. My counterpoint was that human interest stories aren't meant to do that.

> I really don't think anyone seriously thinks money brings happiness or purpose.

I was commenting on the purpose piece of the message not happiness, and no if this was another "money didn't bring me happiness" piece I don't think it would have resonated as much as it did. Maybe we've all finally learned that above a certain threshold of wealth you won't be any happier, but to see a man feeling a bit lost without purpose despite creating so much wealth for himself (and not having inherited it) is surprising, which is why this is resonating.

Even Naval said a few weeks ago "Money does buy happiness, if you earned it," which is clearly not really true in this case. He missed the fact that money can actually remove purpose from your life, whether it was earned or not.

Source: https://twitter.com/naval/status/1165866280181628928?lang=en

Re: RxBar co-founder Peter Rahal on life after becoming a millionaire

#109

Post by DubiousPusher »

If this article was trying to depict this man as thuroughl vain and void of humanity it could not have done a better job.

He moved to Miami Beach to avoid paying taxes? This hundreds of millionaire couldn't just move to a place he liked because he was worried about his marginal tax rate?

He bought a house that's empty and has accoutrements for a lifestyle he doesn't have or plan to have. This is a person buying something that looks like what other rich people by because it's what he's supposed to do.

He's succeed and now is not just overwhelmed by the opportunities he can tackle but is paralyzed by a lack of struggle.

I see these articles over and over again about entrepreneurs and what they show me is that many are not successful because they are imaginative people full of passion and ideas. Rather they are like robots who can see and optimize some little piece of the economy. And by and large they never tire of working at their own little corner. They are different from normal people not in their vision but because they do not tire of bulldoging one very tiny little thing.

I know that's not all entrepreneurs but there are so many profiles like this and they do not make me empathize with these people. They send a shiver down my spine.

Re: RxBar co-founder Peter Rahal on life after becoming a millionaire

#110

Post by ralmeida »

refurb wrote: post #92
indigodaddy wrote: post #85

General question, not a business person: Where does existing cash in the bank go upon an acquisition? To the seller, buyer, or something that is generally negotiated?

Existing cash goes to the buyer, but it’s fully accounted for, so the seller gets it in the end. I.e. company is worth $600M including $50M cash on hand. Seller gets $600M.

Yes - another way to look at it is that liquid cash in company's bank accounts is an asset of the company and the company valuation "includes" it.
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